


it's great to be in love (on valentine's day)

by GallifreyanFairytale



Category: High School Musical: The Musical: The Series (TV)
Genre: 5+1 Things, Fluff, Light Angst, M/M, Valentine's Day
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-09
Updated: 2020-02-09
Packaged: 2021-02-28 07:13:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,294
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22629940
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GallifreyanFairytale/pseuds/GallifreyanFairytale
Summary: five times carlos spent valentine's day without a significant other, and one time that changed.
Relationships: Seb Matthew-Smith/Carlos Rodriguez
Comments: 16
Kudos: 56





	it's great to be in love (on valentine's day)

**Author's Note:**

> back at it again with another hsmtmts one shot, this time featuring seblos!! i don't really have any notes, so enjoy :-)

**i. fifth grade**

Carlos never cared much for Valentine’s Day. Sure, the parties at school were fun because there were cupcakes and cookies and candy all pink and red and heart-shaped, but Carlos didn’t see the big deal with romance. 

He was a fifth grader now, so this was the last elementary school party  _ ever _ , which meant even more sweet treats and savory snacks, and even more fifth grade drama.

Ashlyn Caswell had apparently received a box of chocolates from Kaden Dayton, and that was the hot topic of gossip for Carlos’ class today, but Carlos wasn’t really interested. Ashlyn was friends with the girls who were in the high ability reading group and Kaden was friends with the boys who were in the junior football league and Carlos didn’t care much for romance.

So Carlos just focused on how many of Lauryn’s mom’s brownies he could pile on his plate without getting in trouble for taking too many.

  
**ii. sixth grade**

In middle school, you could buy a chocolate rose for someone during the week leading up to February 14th, and it would be delivered to them during the school day on Valentine’s Day, either anonymously or with a note attached. It was a fundraiser for the yearbook club, so Ashlyn spent most of social studies trying to convince Carlos to buy one for someone. They were supposed to be working on a project together, so Carlos would have agreed just to get her to stop bugging him, but he really didn’t have anyone to buy a rose for. 

When Valentine’s Day finally did roll around, the yearbook kids spent all of homeroom passing out roses. Even though they were only sixth graders and Carlos wasn’t entirely sure he believed they were old enough to have real crushes, eight of the kids in Carlos’ homeroom got a chocolate rose. 

Carlos sat in the back of the room and continued working on his math homework, trying to ignore the students around him gushing about what their note said or wondering who could have gotten them a rose. He reminded himself that his mother would have a valentine for him and his brother when they got home, and Carlos was really fine with his only Valentine’s Day present being a gift from his mom.

  
  


**iii. seventh grade**

Sometime between February of sixth grade and February of seventh grade, Carlos had realized that boys were a lot cuter than girls were and maybe he  _ was  _ old enough to have a crush because one of the eighth graders who sat at the lunch table next to Carlos’ was very  _ very  _ cute and made Carlos’ heart race. He had curly hair and pretty eyes and his name was Ricky Bowen. And he spent all of lunch making heart eyes at the girl next to him, which kind of sucked for Carlos.

The closer Valentine’s Day got, the more Carlos realized he was going to be disappointed to be alone this year, for the first time ever. Because he  _ got it  _ now. He got what he was missing. When he thought he had to have crushes on girls, he didn't get it. But if Carlos was allowed to have a crush on a boy, the whole  _ romance  _ thing made a lot more sense. And it might even be something Carlos  _ wanted _ .

On Valentine’s Day, Ricky Bowen brought two roses into the cafeteria at lunch time; one for the girl he obviously had feelings for and one for the red haired boy who sat with them every day. Carlos brought in two valentines; one for Natalie Bagley and one for Kaden Dayton (who had dropped sports in exchange for band and choir come middle school), and Carlos received a valentine from both of them. The one from Kaden was Spider-Man themed while the one from Natalie had pictures of dogs on it. They spent lunch talking about how the candy would be on sale at all of the stores tomorrow, and that was clearly the best part of Valentine’s Day.

When Carlos got home, his mom gave him and his brother a small heart-shaped box of chocolates, like she’d done every year since Carlos could remember. And Carlos wasn’t  _ alone _ , exactly, but he understood the yearning for a significant other on Valentine’s Day, so his heart still felt a little empty.

**iv. eighth grade**

Seb Matthew-Smith easily had the most gorgeous voice in the entire middle school choir and his eyes were far prettier than Ricky Bowen’s, but Carlos kept telling himself he could not afford to have a crush on Seb. Seb and Ashlyn were dating, so he definitely would not like Carlos back.

Or, Seb and Ashlyn were  _ sort of  _ dating. Seb had switched lunch tables to sit with Ashlyn and her friends, and they sometimes held hands when they walked to class together, so they were  _ basically  _ dating, but waiting until high school to make it official. 

On Valentine’s Day, Carlos tried to ignore the somersault his stomach did when Seb got a chocolate rose with a sweet note from Ashlyn attached in homeroom. He had his friends and he had his family, and that was all he needed for Valentine’s Day. That was all he had ever needed for Valentine’s Day, so why would some boy with an incredible singing voice change that?

Still, when Ashlyn and Seb decided they were better off just being friends a week later, Carlos couldn’t help but throw a party in his mind.

**v. ninth grade**

Carlos spent Valentine’s Day home sick in freshman year. Not that he minded much; it got him out of having to walk past God knows how many couples making out in the hallway. It was already a problem, but Carlos figured Valentine’s Day would make it much worse. 

Carlos knew he should probably worrying about the makeup work he’d have to do, but he decided since it was Valentine’s Day, he was going to treat himself. He wanted to make cookies, but he didn’t trust himself to not burn the house down, so he opted for chocolate-covered strawberries instead. While he let the chocolate set on the berries, Carlos opened his computer and ended up on the Buzzfeed website taking a variety of  _ We Can Guess Your Relationship Status Based On X _ quizzes and laughing to himself when Buzzfeed guess very wrong. One quiz claimed it could guess Carlos’ age  _ and  _ relationship status, then guessed Carlos was in his mid-thirties and married.

Natalie and Kaden both texted Carlos wishing him a happy Valentine’s Day during lunch and saying they hoped he would feel better soon. Carlos thanked them and wished them a happy Valentine’s Day in return.

And sure, Carlos spent most of the day home alone finding ways to busy himself that did not include doing his homework, but for the first time in several years, the loneliness didn’t really bother him. Sure, he kind of wished he was at school with a bouquet of roses for his hypothetical boyfriend, but this was a nice alternative. 

When Carlos’ mom and brother got home, Carlos got his annual box of chocolates from his mom and he decided that he was okay with just having his family and his few friends to celebrate Valentine’s Day with, even if he hadn’t gotten to actually  _ see  _ Natalie and Kaden today.

  
  
  


**\+ i. tenth grade**

When Carlos got to his locker, Seb was already there holding a bouquet of rainbow flowers and Carlos’ first thought was  _ Oh my God I’m in love with him _ . By the time Carlos reached his boyfriend, he was smiling wider than he knew was physically possible.

Seb handed the bouquet to Carlos. “Happy Valentine’s Day, love.”

As soon as the flowers were in Carlos’ hands, he pulled Seb into a hug, careful not to crush the bouquet. Carlos couldn’t get his mouth to work, so he hugged Seb tighter, hoping that said  _ Thank you _ well enough.

Carlos didn’t know how long the hug lasted, but he guessed Seb must have realized they couldn’t stand in the hallway forever, because he was the one who broke it. Once they had separated, Carlos regained some sense in his brain. “Thank you.” He opened his locker and gently set the flowers at the bottom before unzipping his backpack and pulling his present for Seb - a plush cow holding a rainbow heart - out. “Happy Valentine’s Day!”

Seb’s face lit up and if there hadn’t been so many students passing by, Carlos wouldn’t have been able to stop himself from pulling Seb into a kiss. But because he was still very much against couples making out in the hallway, he refrained.

“This is the greatest gift anyone has ever gotten me,” Seb said, holding the cow as if it were fragile. He looked up at Carlos. “I love you.”

Carlos’ eyes widened. It was the first time either of them had said it outright. Sure, they had called each other  _ “my love”  _ and hinted at it, but they hadn’t said those words.

Carlos didn’t respond right away, so Seb must have thought he’d stepped too far, because he started to ramble out an apology. But Carlos interrupted it with, “I love you too.” And Carlos really did still  _ loathe  _ seeing couple kiss in the hallway, but he couldn’t resist leaning forward and pressing a quick, chaste, kiss to Seb’s lips.

The warning bell rang, and Carlos had never been more upset that it was time to go to class. He shoved his backpack into his locker and grabbed what he needed for his first class before walking Seb to his locker, their hands entwined. Seb pecked Carlos’ cheek before they went their separate ways.

At lunch, Nini passed out Valentines to all of the theatre kids - cast and crew alike - and even jumped up to give Ms. Jenn one when she came in for lunch duty. As was custom, Natalie and Kaden had cards for Carlos and Carlos had cards for both of them. Ashlyn and Rico handed cards to Seb, who also gave them cards in return. 

\---

East High had a tradition similar to the district’s middle schools’ selling chocolate roses, except in high school, you got to send a  _ real  _ rose to someone, and they passed them out throughout the school day with yearbook kids giving up their study hall for the day to help. Carlos and Seb were in history together when Ashlyn entered the room holding two roses, grinning. She made her way straight to Carlos and Seb, handing them each a rose with a note attached.

“Don’t tell Ricky and Nini I said this, but you two are the cutest couple at East High,” she whispered to them before walking out, presumably to deliver more roses. 

Carlos was sure his face was red, but when he looked over at Seb, he realized Seb was bushing as well, so he didn’t feel so bad.

\---

After a week of pestering, Carlos’ mom had agreed to let Seb eat dinner with them for Valentine’s day, because Seb’s older sister had called dibs on the car that evening, saying Seb and Carlos could just celebrate on Saturday.

Carlos wasn’t surprised to see his younger brother already half done with his box of chocolates when they got home, but he was surprised to see that there were still two unopened boxes on the counter.

“Mama?” he called back towards the door as he put his flowers from Seb into a vase.

“Yes?”

Carlos filled the vase with water and set it on the counter. “Why’d you get three boxes of chocolates?”

Carlos’ mom stepped into the kitchen. “One is for Seb,” she said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. Carlos could have started crying right there, but he had a rule that he would not cry in front of his brother, so he held his tears back.

“Thank you so much, Ms. Rodriguez,” Seb said politely as Carlos grabbed the two boxes and handed one to Seb.

“Of course! You’re over here nearly as much as Carlos is these days, so I figured it was appropriate to get you something for Valentine’s Day as well. Now,  _ please  _ don’t ruin your dinner,” she shot a pointed look at Carlos’ brother, who quickly slammed the lid on his box and pushed it away.

“We won’t,” Carlos promised as he grabbed Seb’s hand. Carlos lead Seb down the hallway and into his bedroom, shutting the door behind them. Hopefully his mom would be too busy preparing dinner to notice that it was completely shut.

Carlos dropped his bag on the floor and shrugged his jacket off before hanging it up in the closet. By the time he'd done that, Seb was seated on Carlos’ bed. Carlos joined him, leaning his head on Seb’s shoulder.

“You know,” Carlos said, taking one of Seb’s hands into his, “this is the first Valentine’s Day that I’m dating someone.”

“I want to say  _ ‘me too’ _ , but Ashlyn and I had that weird thing where we were sort of dating in eighth grade, so I’m not sure I can.” Seb laughed lightly and pressed a kiss to the side of Carlos’ head. “But this  _ is  _ my favorite Valentine’s Day by far, and my first one with a boyfriend.”

“It’s my favorite too.” Carlos sighed contentedly. He brought Seb’s hand up to his lips and placed a soft kiss on his knuckles. “I love you.”

“I love you too.”

Carlos brought Seb into a kiss, and he was so very grateful for all of the Valentine’s Days he’d spent alone in the past, because they’d brought him here. And there was nowhere he would rather be and no one he’d rather be with. 

**Author's Note:**

> as always, you can find me on twitter @ pepperchuk


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